Guard Dog of All Your Fever Dreams
by Hollyleaf The Black Cat
Summary: Two days after leaving Punk Hazard, Tashigi's got a cold and it's all Smoker's fault.


**Author's Note: **I wrote this when I had a cold last week and I kinda forgot about it until I was reorganizing some files haha. The whole idea of this came from me being sick because it is now spring and my allergies are a bitch and I was really wanting to write something for Smoker x Tashigi because I love them together. I feel like, yeah, they can bicker but they really work well together and care about each other a lot. Last week I was re-reading Punk Hazard and just, urgh, rip out my heart because my feels are acting up from the scenes where he jumps between her and Law to protect her and when he loses his heart and she cries because trying to attack Law and the body swapping! So, yeah, I just really wanted to write something about them and then I thought what if Tashigi got sick when Smoker kept her shirt open when they switched bodies? Anyway, my main fear is that they are too OOC and I really hope they aren't but if they are I apologize. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

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"Ah-choo!"

Tashigi let out a sneeze as she sat up in her bed. She groaned and reached for her glasses then sat there blankly staring at the wall while she breathed through her mouth because she couldn't through her nose. Tashigi had a cold and it was all Smoker's fault.

It'd been about 2 days since they'd left Punk Hazard and Tashigi had been feeling it coming on since they returned to the ship. At first she didn't think anything about it but it'd been progressively getting worse.

She tried to think of when she could have gotten sick. She always made sure she was prepared to face whatever weather by dressing appropriately. She'd made sure to wear her coat and even a wrap over that. That's when it finally hit her. _Smoker-san._

Her mind immediately thought back to the body switching and Tashigi couldn't help but blush when she thought about Smoker being in her body with her shirt open. She was pretty sure that's what's gave her this cold.

She frowned as she got up and began to get ready for the day. "Stupid Smoker-san," she said as she stared at her puffy eyes in the mirror.

She went back to her room and strapped her sword to her side. Most people would stay in bed if they had a cold but Tashigi knew she could tough it out and get to work because she wasn't a Marine captain for nothing.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door. "Captain-chan?" asked the voice outside.

"Ye-Yes?" she shouted though it sounded weak due to her sore throat.

"The Vice Admiral wants to see you."

"I'll be right there," she replied.

When Tashigi arrived at Smoker's door she noticed he was stacking rocks. She cleared her throat, not only because it hurt but also to let him know she was there and not break his focus too much.

He didn't even look up at her. "Headquarters wants a report about everything that happened at Punk Hazard."

"Everything?" asked Tashigi thinking back to their body switching. Over the past few days hers and Smoker's interactions had been brief and they still hadn't talked about what happened. It was too awkward a conversation for Tashigi to even think about.

"Something wrong with that?" he asked.

"N-no," she began.

He looked up at her. "You ok?" he asked.

She nodded. "Of course I am. Why would I not be?"

He shrugged. "You sound different."

She sniffled a little. "It's nothing, Smoker-san. I'll go get started on the report."

He looked at her with what appeared to be concern but he simply grunted to acknowledge he'd heard her and returned to his rocks.

She headed back to her quarters and sat down at her desk to get started writing that report. As the day went on, she was still working on the report. Her head was feeling more stuffed up and everything was starting to burn.

Tashigi looked at the door, wondering if maybe she should go to the ship's doctor, but she was almost finished with the report and it was almost dinner time so she decided she'd just wait until later.

The only problem was that as she stared down at the paper it started getting blurry and she could feel her eyelids getting heavy. She raised up out of her chair and felt dizzy. _I need to lie down. _So she started toward her bed but the next thing she knew she was hitting the ground.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Tashigi opened her eyes and noticed that it was snowing. She looked around her and noticed that it was nothing but a snowy landscape as far as the eye could see. That's when she realized she was at Punk Hazard. "What?" she whispered._

_She looked around for her crew but no one was there. "Smoker-san!?" she shouted._

_Silence._

_Tashigi started walking trying to find something, someone. She shouted out again and again for Smoker or her subordinates or someone but there was no answer._

_So she kept walking and shouting but there was still nothing and she could feel herself becoming cold and sick._

_She turned around and around looking for anything. Suddenly, she saw people off in the distance. She swore they looked like her crew, with the one in the front leading them being Smoker. "Smoker-san! Smoker-san!" she shouted as she started walking toward the group but it felt like with every step she took she never got closer to the group._

"_Wait!" she shouted as she started to break out in a fit of coughs. "Wait..."_

XXXXXXXXXX

"Captain-chan? Captain-chan?" said a voice as it gently tried to shakes her awake.

Tashigi opened her eyes and looked around. She was in the ship's infirmary and the man shaking her was the ship's doctor. "What? What's going on?"

"You were having a fever dream," he began, "You just kept mumbling and groaning and then you started coughing something awful. I felt I needed to try and wake you up."

"How did I get here?" she asked.

"Vice Admiral Smoker brought you in here last night. You didn't come to dinner so we all got worried about you. One of your subordinates when to check on you but your door was locked and you weren't answering. We'd have gotten the key but the Vice Admiral felt it'd be fast to slip under door. He seemed a bit worried," began the doctor, "Apparently you fainted due to fever. You were boiling when he brought you in here, Captain-chan. Luckily, we were able to get you cooled down before it got worse. You need to watch yourself, Captain-chan. If you ever feel sick in the slightest, come to me. You can't always push it."

Tashigi just shook her head. "Understood. Speaking of Smoker-san do you know where he is?"

"I believe Vice Admiral Smoker's finishing the report you were working on," said the doctor.

"Maybe I should get sick more often," laughed Tashigi, "then Smoker-san will start doing his own paperwork."

The doctor chuckled a little. "He might but I wouldn't get sick too often or you'll worry him to death."

"What?" asked Tashigi.

"Oh Captain-chan, the Vice Admiral's been worried sick about you. I mean he doesn't say that he's worried but he's stopped in pretty much every time he passes and asks if you are awake yet. I finally had to tell him that I'd come get him when you woke up. Actually I should probably go get him. I'll be right back," said the doctor.

It didn't take a moment before the doctor came back into the room with Smoker following behind him. She gave Smoker a weak wave and smile but she noticed that he looked mad. She wondered what was wrong.

He stomped his way over to her and she couldn't help but slink under her covers some. "What the hell is wrong with you, Tashigi?" he growled when he got over to her.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked.

"You should know better than to let yourself get so sick," he said, "The last thing this ship needs is a sick Captain who's cooped up for days. We've got work that needs to be done."

When Smoker said that Tashigi couldn't help but feel her anger rise. This was the man who was worried about her? He was acting like this was her fault! "Don't be angry with me Smoker-san because this is all **your **fault!" she shouted, jabbing her finger at him.

He looked at her surprised that she's talking back to him. "How is this my fault?" he asked.

"Because you just couldn't keep my shirt buttoned!" she said.

The room was silent as they stared at each other. She was angrily pouting at him; he was glaring at her.

"I'm just going to step outside and let you two settle this argument alone," said the doctor.

Smoker stared at her for a minute longer. When did she start becoming more assertive toward him? He can't help but give her a smirk as he walked over to the wall across from her bed and leaned against it to look at her. Maybe she was in his body too long because it seems some of his personality has rubbed off on her. "So you finally want to stop avoiding me and talk about all that?"

"W-Well," began Tashigi a little embarrassed because she really didn't want to talk about it but she was the one to bring it up. "Yes I do, Smoker-san, because it's due to use swapping bodies and you absolutely having to have an open shirt that I'm sick."

"Well if your body wasn't so weak maybe you wouldn't have that problem," he said.

"It's not that my body's weak it's that you obviously don't understand what the freezing cold does to normal people," she said.

"Well think of this as a sort of payback for making me look weak when you were in my body," he said.

"Well maybe that wouldn't happen if your body wasn't so hard to control, especially your powers," she said.

"Well even when I turn my body into smoke I can still see. You're as blind as a fucking bat," he said.

"At least every part of me doesn't smell like cigars. I don't know how you just don't choke to death on it," she said.

"Does being sick always make you argue more, Tashigi?" he asked.

She blushed a bit, not that he could tell because her face was still red with fever. "Maybe it does, Smoker-san." She took a deep breath but it only made her chest hurt and she started coughing. "I'm sorry Smoker-san but I need some rest."

He stared at her for a moment. Her long hair was down and messy, her eyes were puffy, her breathing sounded strained, and she just looked drained. He sighed as he walked over to her.

"I'm sorry," he said in that gruff voice of his. "For all of this, I guess. You're not weak, Tashigi. You've actually got more guts and more strength than any of the men on this ship."

Tashigi couldn't help but be surprised he was apologizing. Maybe he was really just worried about her. Maybe bickering was Smoker's way of showing he cared. "Th-thanks, Smoker-san."

He crossed his arms and looked away from her smiling face. "Get some rest," he said as he headed toward the door.

"Right, Smoker-san," she said as she laid down again.

Smoker took one last look at her and then headed out the door where he saw the doctor standing there, grinning.

"What's that look for?" he growled.

The doctor just shrugged. "Nothing, Vice Admiral Smoker."

"Good," said Smoker as he turned to head back to his quarters.

"I'll keep watch on her," shouted the doctor as he headed back into the infirmary. "Unless you want to sit in here with her like you did last night."

Smoker quickly jerked around and glared at the doctor who just had a smug look on his face. "I won't hesitate to send you back to headquarters if you say anything about that," said Smoker.

"I know Vice Admiral Smoker," said the doctor, walking back into the room, still grinning. "I know."

Smoker let out a frustrated grunt and turned around to leave again until the doctor came back out again. "She's already asleep again," he said.

Smoker paused for a moment debating whether he should turn around.

The next moment he was in sitting in a chair by Tashigi's bed, puffing on two cigars as he watched her sleep.

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Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated! ;D


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